dram /dram/ - noun: A small drink of whiskey or similar spirit. Usually measured to be 30ml. The word Dram has since become synonymous for an alcoholic drink, preferably whiskey.

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Irish Distillers Monopoly?

It has recently come to my attention, that most of my hard earned whiskey money has been going to the same company. Some of the most popular Irish Whiskey brands - including Bushmills, Jameson, RedBreast, Green Spot and Middleton - are all produced by the same parent company.

In 1966 Irish whiskey distillers John Power & Son, John Jameson & Son and the Cork Distillery Company merged into what is now known as Irish Distillers Group. In 1972 Bushmills joined the fold essentially giving one company controll over all whiskey production on the island of Ireland. Popular brands like Powers, Paddy are also created by this same group. What waht?

The older distilleries in Cork and Dublin were closed off and production was moved to a new facility right next to the Middleton distillery. The Old Middleton distillery (that used a 30,000+ gallon single pot still) was eventually converted to a museum.

Now, after some reading it seems that Bushmills has since been sold off and is no longer under the control of the same company, but still, this is crazy!